I live in Britain and I have put
my money in a bank in Egypt
(National Bank of Egypt)
because I am planning to live
there soon. This bank gives me
an increase of money
depending on how much they
make every year. They don't
give me a solid percentage. For
e.g. this year I could get 10%
and next year I could get 4%
(this depends on how successful
the business was, in which they
used my money in). I asked the
man who worked there whether
this is Halaal or not he said it is
Halaal because it is not a fixed
rate. Also, I heard from a
Shaykh that this is Halaal, but I
still feel a little suspicious as
Ribaa is a big sin in Islam. I
want to be sure. Please give me
a clear answer to my question.

Fatwa:
All perfect praise be to Allah,
The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of
worship except Allah, and that
Muhammad is His slave and
Messenger, may Allah exalt his
mention as well as that of his
family and all his companions.
First of all, you should know
that it is forbidden to deal with
any bank whose transactions are
based on interest and usury. It
is not permissible in principle
to open a bank account with
such banks be it a saving
account, or a current account or
else, as by doing so one is
helping them to subsist. Allah
Says (what means): {Help you one
another in virtue, righteousness and
piety but do not help one another in sin
and transgression. And fear Allah.
Verily, Allah is Severe in punishment.}
[Quran 5:2].

So it is forbidden to deal with a
bank which deals with usury and
interest except for a necessity,
for example when there is no
Islamic bank and one fears to
lose his money, or that the
customer has wages that he
only could get through the
bank. So in such cases it is
permissible to open an account
in the bank provided it is a
current account without any
interest.

If the bank does not allow other
accounts except saving
accounts, then it is permissible
due to the necessity. In this
case the customer takes the
interest but he should not
spend it on himself or on
whomever he is obliged to
spend for, rather he should
spend it in the public interest
[of the Muslims] or on the poor
and needy people with the
intention of getting rid of this
money, and not with the
intention of gifting it, as Allah is
Tayyib (which implies purity)
and He accepts only that which
is pure.

What we know about the bank
that you inquired is that it deals
with interest and usury, so it is
not permissible to take the
interest whether its percentage
is defined or undefined, as this
is forbidden because the reality
of the transaction between the
bank and the customer is
money lending and the contract
is that of a loan contract. The
client is the creditor and the
bank is the debtor because the
capital money is guaranteed by
the bank, and the interest that
the client takes is extra money
on his capital money.

Taking extra money when giving
a loan is a forbidden interest
and this is included in the
saying of Allah (which means):
{Allah has permitted trading and
forbidden usury.} [Quran 2:275]. In
addition to this the Prophet
said "Allah has cursed the one who
consumes Riba (i.e. usury or interest),
the one who gives it to others, the one
who writes it down and the one who
witnesses it. He said: "All of them are
equal in sin." [Muslim]

To conclude, we say that if this
bank has an Islamic branch
whose dealings are according to
religious requirements and run
by an Islamic committee, then it
is permissible to take this profit
and benefit from it from this
Islamic branch as in such a case
it is a result of a religious co-
partnership or other religious
transactions.
Allah Knows best.